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Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Talladega

Hamlin beats Almirola to NASCAR Cup pole at Talladega

Denny Hamlin held off a tough challenge from Fords on Saturday to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season.

 Hamlin, one of the last cars to go out in the final round of qualifying, posted an average lap speed of 180.751 mph - the fastest lap of the day – and held on to win the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The pole is the first of the 2023 season for Hamlin, 37th of his career and – remarkably – the first in his career on a superspeedway.

"That's the first one for sure, I was well aware," Hamlin said of winning his first pole on a superspeedway track. "Last year was a great opportunity because all the Toyotas qualified really well on the superspeedways. That was kind of the nature of the (car) bodies that we submitted to NASCAR. So, we knew we'd be fast on these types of race tracks.

"When we re-submitted this year, I think we got more of a balance, and we knew it would slow us up some on these types of tracks. Toyota and those guys continue to make advancements and we get a little faster."

Asked about the advantages, if any, of starting on the pole at a place like Talladega, Hamlin said: "I would say that qualifying on the pole means my car is very capable of being fast leading. I haven't been fast in the Next Gen era while leading superspeedways. So, that gives me the confidence that we should be able to lead the pack and make it harder for them to pass us."

Ford driver Aric Almirola will line up second (180.642 mph) and Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, was third (180.594 mph).

Ford drivers Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 lineup are Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson (the lone Chevrolet in the top-10) and Chris Buescher.

# Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 52.979     180.751
2 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 2 53.011 0.032 0.032 180.642
3 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 2 53.025 0.046 0.014 180.594
4 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 2 53.085 0.106 0.060 180.390
5 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 2 53.124 0.145 0.039 180.258
6 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 2 53.245 0.266 0.121 179.848
7 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 2 53.281 0.302 0.036 179.726
8 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 2 53.299 0.320 0.018 179.666
9 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 2 53.302 0.323 0.003 179.656
10 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 2 53.303 0.324 0.001 179.652

Round 1

Fords and Toyotas dominated the first round of qualifying with Ford driver Briscoe with the fastest average speed (179.730 mph).

Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs (179.689 mph) and Hamlin (179.635 mph) ended up second and third respectively.

Almirola was fourth and Truex fifth.

Also advancing to the final round were Blaney, Logano, Bell, Buescher and Larson, driving the only Chevrolet in the top-10.

Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and three Hendrick Motorsports cars – William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott.

Austin Cindric qualified 15th but will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 2 Penske Ford.

11 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 2 53.455 0.175 0.015 179.141
12 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 2 53.470 0.190 0.015 179.091
13 45 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 2 53.496 0.216 0.026 179.004
14 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2 53.497 0.217 0.001 179.001
15 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 2 53.499 0.219 0.002 178.994
16 41 United States Ryan Preece Ford 2 53.509 0.229 0.010 178.961
17 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 2 53.548 0.268 0.039 178.830
18 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 2 53.559 0.279 0.011 178.793
19 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 2 53.568 0.288 0.009 178.763
20 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 2 53.611 0.331 0.043 178.620
21 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 2 53.629 0.349 0.018 178.560
22 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 2 53.651 0.371 0.022 178.487
23 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 2 53.671 0.391 0.020 178.420
24 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 2 53.693 0.413 0.022 178.347
25 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 2 53.695 0.415 0.002 178.341
26 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 2 53.745 0.465 0.050 178.175
27 48 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 2 53.750 0.470 0.005 178.158
28 36 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 2 53.849 0.569 0.099 177.831
29 9 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 2 53.874 0.594 0.025 177.748
30 42 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 2 53.902 0.622 0.028 177.656
31 62 United States Austin Hill Chevrolet 2 53.973 0.693 0.071 177.422
32 77 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 2 54.033 0.753 0.060 177.225
33 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 2 54.039 0.759 0.006 177.205
34 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 2 54.059 0.779 0.020 177.140
35 38 Zane Smith Ford 2 54.063 0.783 0.004 177.127
36 15 United States Riley Herbst Ford 2 54.106 0.826 0.043 176.986
37 78 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 2 54.297 1.017 0.191 176.363
38 51 United States J.J. Yeley Ford 2 54.424 1.144 0.127 175.952

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